Since herbal green tea does not go through a fermentation process, more of its beneficial antioxidants remain intact. Popular in Eastern cultures, the natural antioxidants and elements in herbal green tea continue to be studied for their ability to protect cells of the brain and the body.
For the Heart
According to Dr. Nikolaos Alexopoulos of the Athens Medical School, Greece, herbal green tea contains antioxidant flavonoids, which are especially beneficial to the lining of blood vessels. By preventing inflammation, blood vessel walls are relaxed, and blood can flow more freely throughout the body. He adds that these flavonoids protect against blood clots formation that causes heart attacks.
For Leukemia
Herbal green tea contains an extremely beneficial compound known as epigallocatechin gallate or ECGC. It is this element of herbal green tea that showed in a small clinical trial in 2009, to have a positive effect on leukemia patients who were given high doses of ECGC in capsule form. Dr. Tait Shanafelt conducted this early study at the Mayo Clinic. His findings suggest that ECGC found naturally in herbal green tea caused a regression in the condition as well as reduced the size of enlarged lymph nodes in leukemia patients by 50 percent.
For the Mind
Lead researcher Erich Wanker, who with his German team at the Max Drelbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, conducted laboratory experiments and found that ECGC may prevent the development of amyloid plaque in the brain that is consistent with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease patients. However, he advises that what is unclear is whether or not ECGC from herbal green tea can remove or reverse harmful plaques that have already developed.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Painful joints, swelling and stiffness are experienced by those who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. The polyphenols in green tea have anti-inflammatory properties, so green tea is being studied as a possible treatment for inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. According to researchers at the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, green tea works by causing positive changes in arthritis-related immune responses.
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